This one made me think about some things that were bothering me, and gave me some good ideas... ( )

Top five books I've ever read--this is a must-read. ( )

4 stars for writing not for agreement. I come to this book as someone who was born and raised in the church as we say in the South. I'm now sixty three years old and no longer a biblical literalist. This author is writing to a generation of younger seekers and he does a good job of stating his case. The only problem is his case is not the profound mic drop that he thinks it is. It's that old time religion and I've been there and have the T-Shirt.

The major themes of the book are:
God is compassionate and gracious
God is slow to anger
God is abounding in love and faithfulness
Yet God does not let the guilty go unpunished

He also goes to great length (The author, not God.) to tell us that God has an exact name and then goes through mental and text gymnastics to say it's Yahweh. Now I'm not a biblical scholar so I'm not attacking or refuting his conclusion. I'm just not sure it's quite as cut and dried as he says it is. He goes to much trouble to let you know that It's Yahweh The Compassionate Lord, Yahweh the Gracious, Yahweh slow to anger, Yahweh Abounding in love and faithfulness, Yahweh who punishes (ever notice how the loving religious folks love the punishing?) Just saying. But, Yahweh who punishes the children for the sins of the father to the third and fourth generation. Address him by his name. Yahweh.

Now if the above sounds as if I'm being blasphemous I assure you I'm not. I'm not trying to mock or disparage faith. My own faith has brought me through and still see's me through this life. It's just that I've seen people manipulate others politically, emotionally and even sexually using Jesus and I'm kind of tired of it. But, I promise I am not an enemy of faith or of religion for that matter.

God is compassionate and gracious. I can understand that. But then the author tells of how God is jealous and doesn't let sin go unpunished. Then the writer starts talking about all the idols and false god's and how they are demonic or fake but Yahweh is the only true God. Then somehow he manages to bring the Hebrew Deity of Ancient Israel back to the Christians of the West and of course Jesus. He then glosses over the times when God is angry and commands genocide in his name and say's "we want God to punish us" our sense of justice demands it. Really? I don't think so.
Then of course he does the "God is like a father and your father punishes you if he loves you." Well, if you mean beating my ass if I tried to backtalk him then yeah. If you mean a parent grounding you for sneaking out of the house then yeah. But, if you mean allowing you to be obliterated or cast into a burning pit forever and ever then no. No I don't think that is what a loving parent would do.

I worked for a while finishing up my Social Work BSW by working at a fast food place on an Army base. I worked at Popeye's. I used to work over the fryer. We would batter the chicken and then carefully drop it into the hot grease. If you got a drop of that hot grease on you from the splatter you were in pain so we were really careful. I remember thinking as I worked over this hot and dangerous vat of grease. I wouldn't take the tip of the little finger of my most hated enemy and touch it into that grease. I mean it. I couldn't do it.

Yet some Christians want me to believe that a God of love could allow a living soul or being to be tormented for eternity in a hell fire or to be obliterated. I have to tell you that I don't consider that a God with a big G. I would consider that a god with a little g.

Finally, I thought long and hard about my faith in my youth. I finally came to a place where the atheistic idea of a meatbot in a meaningless universe seemed to me to be the insane ramblings of deluded people. But, also the idea of a almighty being who creates a naked ape and then takes and Arc Angel with all power and knowledge and sends him down to earth. Then takes his own child in his anger and demands his murder and torture and by the way if this arc Angel called Satan can fool the puny little naked ape then the All mighty in his "love" will burn him for efver and evver. But, if the naked ape even after he's raped and murdered and hurt people will just say the sinners prayer before he dies the he gets a get out of jail card free.

I'm sorry to say the writer of this book while he's a very intelligent young man, Still didn't make religious dogma anymore sane or sensible by his mental gymnastics in this book.

So, bottom line if you are an evangelical then you will love this book. IT will not challenge you at all. But, if you are seeking spiritual nourishment then this is a very light snack indeed. ( )

Excellent book focusing on the most quoted verse in the Bible by the Bible. A good understanding of our misconceptions of who God is and His character. ( )